XSPC 290X & 290 Razor Waterblock Review and Fitting Guide

Introduction and Technical Specification

This review differs from most in that it will also serve as a fitting guide for the new Razor GPU water block from XSPC. We've chosen the model designed to fit the AMD R9 290X/290 reference cards as we've already seen what a decent air cooler and an AIO solution can do to tame the temps of this much maligned chip, and wondered just what sort of impact a decent custom loop would have on those temperatures.

Whether you're into water cooling or not it's likely that you will already be familiar with the XSPC brand, and probably the Raystorm line of CPU water Blocks if not Razor GPU waterblocks in particular. It is though easy to forget that it wasn't too long ago that the scarcity of full cover GPU water blocks made this level of customisation the reserve of the high end builder and modder. Thankfully this is no longer the case, with the Razor brand offering cooling solutions for a great many current and, thanks to a back catalogue, not so current cards. XSPC haven't been taking things for granted though, with the release of the latest in the Razor line XSPC have introduced an LED illuminated acrylic layer so that the Razor can now be matched up with the visual impact of the Raystorm CPU water block, enabling the system builder to carry the backlit LED theme through their water cooling build. As well as aesthetic changes XSPC have also made changes to the internal architecture which should serve to further improve performance.

What did you use with the Kraken G10?I was thinking of doing it that way with an Corsair H55. Or would that be to small for the amount of heat produced. Should I just go for a full custom loop. I already have an H100 in the system for my cpu.

Great Review Gary. I love the point where you just stopped and said we need to bask in the glory of the assembled card/backplate. The design is simply lovely. I took a look and see they make a block for the R295x2. Now that would be an awesome pair if I ever found the $2K or so it would take to make it happen.

I love the simplicity and classy design that XSPC putting into the Raystorm line of products.

What did you use with the Kraken G10?I was thinking of doing it that way with an Corsair H55. Or would that be to small for the amount of heat produced. Should I just go for a full custom loop. I already have an H100 in the system for my cpu.

Nice... especially that the block actually covers the entire PCB, unlike certain other blocks (*ahem* aquacomputer *ahem*) that basically end at the VRMs and leave an unsightly part of uncovered PCB (yeah yeah, I know, you probably won't see it anyway... but just KNOWING that the block doesn't cover the whole card is annoying )

great review, spot on with everything, only thing i'd add would be that by using better, than the provided in the box, thermal paste on the GPU and thermal pads on the VRMs, you can get even better temps.
love my razor 290, it's probably the best bit of upgrade kit i've bought, in terms of making a difference from the vanilla component.

great review, spot on with everything, only thing i'd add would be that by using better, than the provided in the box, thermal paste on the GPU and thermal pads on the VRMs, you can get even better temps.
love my razor 290, it's probably the best bit of upgrade kit i've bought, in terms of making a difference from the vanilla component.

used gelid gc extreme and a strip of fujipoly ultra extreme on the VRMs myself. unfortunately haven't got the test equipment to back up any claims scientifically but i saw something like 5-7º drop in temps on full load on the GPU core and even more on the VRMs, especially so on the problematic VRM1.
if nothing else, it helped ease my mind about baking the card when playing a game : )

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